If you’ve followed my blog for at least a year, you’ve seen me post about the Michael and Betty planters that I “inherited” when my mom moved into a small apartment. Betty was my mother’s sister and Michael was Betty’s husband. When Mom got those planters she named them right away, so they’ve always been Michael and Betty to me. I enjoy giving them different “hair” every year.
Allow me to introduce you to the real Michael and Betty:
Michael’s given name was Robert/Bob, but he took the name Michael when he entered the Screen Actor’s Guild. He did some acting (he played a guest role on Kojak one time!), but eventually made his mark in NYC by starting his own acting studio. Betty, meanwhile, taught voice lessons.
My sister and I went to NYC in 1982 to visit them and our cousins – a story that could be entitled “Country Mice Visit Their City Mice Relatives.” They lived in a brownstone filled with all sorts of eclectic stuff they’d accumulated over the years, a fascinating place. We went to a restaurant one night and one of Michael’s students joined us – an actress we knew from a soap opera that we were watching. Her character was going to get killed off, so we got the scoop ahead of time. Very heady stuff!
They’ve both passed on now, but I think of them often…especially in the summer. 😉
This post will probably exit Stage Left in the morning.
Lynniebeemuseoday 
I may have only met Michael and Betty a couple times, and only once in their home when we visited with our whole family in 2000. My best memory is going with Michael to get supper to bring back to the apartment to feed our large family. They lived in Brooklyn, so we walked around the corner to a local Chinese restaurant. Along the way people greeted Michael warmly and of course he was known at the restaurant. I got the distinct feeling that Brooklyn was a thousand small towns all smashed into a few square miles. It gave me a radically new perspective on what New York was all about.
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I’m so glad you have your own memories of Michael and Betty. I always got the feeling that they were beloved by all who knew them.
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Warm family memories are always a treasure! Thank you for sharing!
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Cute story and fun memories for you old Michael and Betty. I’m glad you have the planters.
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